PSV on alert as high-scoring Lyon primed to attack

PSV EINDHOVEN are one clean sheet away from their first semi-final in Europe’s premier club competition since 1988 when they host French champions Olympique Lyon tonight at the Philips Stadium.

However, keeping the French side out for 90 minutes will be no easy task as they are the leading scorers in the Champions League, having hit 28 goals in nine matches.

Still, PSV have the advantage of an away goal from the 1-1 draw in the first leg of their quarter-final last week and Lyon will have to take the game to the Dutch side, to prevent their campaign ending at the quarter-final stage again as it did last season when they went out to eventual champions Porto.

PSV coach Guus Hiddink used Saturday’s first division match against Den Bosch, which ended in a comfortable 3-0 win, to give Korean Park Ji-Sung a rest, while Andre Ooijer and Johann Vogel stayed on the bench.

After AZ’s second league defeat in eight days it is now just a question of when, rather than if, PSV win the Dutch title as they stretched their lead to 13 points and need only eight more points from their remaining six matches to be crowned champions for the fourth time in six years.

While PSV are seeking to write another great chapter in their history, their fans are recalling an earlier glorious chapter ahead of this week’s match: the one that ends with PSV lifting the European Cup in 1988.

Then, as now, PSV were under the command of Hiddink and then, as now, they played a French team in the quarters.

PSV drew 1-1 away at Bordeaux in 1988 before drawing 0-0 at home to reach the semis where they knocked out Real Madrid.

By comparison, Lyon’s only previous appearance in the last four of a European competition came in 1964 when they reached the semis of the European Cup Winners Cup and lost a play-off to Sporting Lisbon.

Of more immediate relevance however is their 2-2 draw with Nantes on Saturday - a result that pleased coach Paul Le Guen who fielded a largely reserve side.

Playmaker Juninho and defender Eric Abidal were rested while inter-nationals Sidney Govou, Sylvain Wiltord and Florent Malouda all started on the bench along with sweeper Cris.

Lyon, like Eindhoven, are also just a few weeks away from being crowned their domestic champions - Lyon for the fourth successive year - as the weekend results left them 14 points clear with six matches to play.

Le Guen knows this match is “do-or-die” and has promised the Dutch champions a tough challenge with his team at full strength and their confidence high.

Le Guen also believes that their away form in the competition gives them reason to be optimistic having won at Sparta Prague (2-1), Fenerbahce (3-1) and Werder Bremen (3-0) in the last round, with their only away defeat coming at Manchester United (1-2) last November.